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Cape Town - The winner of the Toyota SA/Agri SA Young Farmer of the Year competition is Jaco Strauss (40) of the farm Lekkerkry in the Vaalharts district of the Northern Cape.
He is a crop farmer who farms mainly with grain, cotton and pecan nuts.
The fruit farmer Richard Myburgh of the farm Cortina between Villiersdorp and Grabouw in the Vyeboom district of the Western Cape received the Toyota SA New Harvest of the Year award. This award is presented to previously disadvantaged farmers.
After the event, Agri SA president Dan Kriek said the participants in both competitions were of a high quality and examples of what the future of agriculture looks like.
“I was very impressed with the participants,” said Kriek. “The dynamic Young Farmer participants focus on the innovative use of technology and the New Harvest participants are clearly achieving new levels of excellence.”
Farmers under the age of 40 who have been paid-up members of their provincial agricultural organisations for at least two years are eligible. A winner is selected from each of the provinces, after which they are finalists in the Young Farmer of the Year competition.
Strauss and Myburgh each rode away in brand new Toyota Hilux single-cab bakkies.
“We are very proud of Strauss. All the participants are young farmers whom we can be proud of and I call on them to make themselves available in future to serve as leaders in organised agriculture and in their communities,” said Kriek.
“Myburgh’s success is an example of what can be achieved with transformation. All the participants in the Young Farmer and New Harvest competitions want to plough back into their communities. This is the golden thread which connects all of the participants.”
Strauss is chair of his local farmers’ association and member of Grain SA, as well as the Vaalharts District Agricultural Union. He has been farming in the Vaalharts area for 18 years and is actively involved in community projects.
He made a big contribution towards the establishment of a private school in the area. He says it is important to him that his own and other children have access to good local education.
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